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“Where Do We
Go From Here?”
INTRODUCTION:
Although I attended only two of the “Unitarian Summer 2011” sessions
here at All Faiths this Summer, I did attend something much like it,
only larger: The General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist
Association, meeting in Charlotte, N. Carolina. More than 4,000
delegates attended. All Faiths had some eight persons present, and one
of our four delegates, Regina Kilmartin, participated in a ceremony in
which she received a plaque confirming our membership in the UUA. That
means we are full members of the most liberal religious denomination in
America, the most affluent, and the most highly educated.
Although we had zigged and zagged
towards affiliation other times, actual affiliation was an intentional
process, directed by the Board of Governors more than a year ago, when
they authorized me to meet during the 2010 General Assembly in
Minneapolis with the District Executive of Florida to explore
affiliation. Though it was much more complicated than any of us
anticipated, through the leadership of our congregational president, Ed
Kleinow, a task force consisting of Ann Batal and Carol Elrod, and an
almost unanimous vote of the congregation, we succeeded. Today, we’re a
fully participating affiliate of the UUA.
Which was the point of this summer
series, namely, to explore the question: What does it mean to be
Unitarian Universalists? Who are we now, and who are those 1,000+ other
congregations, some larger, some much larger, but most, smaller than we.
So let me give you a supplemental theological report on GA that was not
a part of the excellent presentation last July, led by Mary Corrigan and
our delegates. Remember our purpose is to answer the question: Who are
we, now that we’re Unitarian Universalist? (The Fall UU World
provided indispensable resources for this sermon.)
The first answer comes from the Rev. Dr.
Galen Guengerich, minister of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New
York City. In his workshop, attended by some 800+ with standing room
only, he stated that Judaism, Christianity and Islam “cling to an
untenable idea of God and a misguided practice of religion.” Let me
repeat that: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, he says, “cling to an
untenable idea of God and a misguided practice of religion.” He added
this provocative statement:
“However, if we expect Unitarian
Universalism to flourish in the future, it would certainly be convenient
if the idea of God played a positive role in our faith. For in a survey
conducted by the Gallup organization, 94 percent of Americans said they
believe in God. If we restrict our appeal to the remaining 6 percent,
then we face an uncertain future at best.”
So 94 percent of
Americans believe in God; six percent don’t; and if UUs want to have a
future, it would be a good idea to get on board with a tenable idea of
God, but not the traditional one that currently holds sway for most
people of the Book.
But the identity issue isn’t that
simple. The Rev. Kaaren Anderson, co-minister with her husband, of the
First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY said:
“The old standoff between humanists and
theists is being replaced. On the whole, the tide has completely
changed. There are minor pockets and uncommon moments of slipping back
into old habits. But it’s not by any measure who we are anymore.”
As we would say
back in Texas, “We don’t have a dog in that race anymore.” Conflict
between atheists and theists may be where we came from, but it isn’t who
we are now.
So how have UUs bridged that gap? Rev.
Anderson’s answer, “UUs are united by experiences of compassion and
connection, which they share even when they hold seemingly incompatible
beliefs.”
What that means is there are some places
where humanism and theism battle on, but “it’s not who we are anymore!
We are united by our compassion and connection, despite what we
individually may believe.”
To flesh it out even more, or as the
president of the UUA puts it, there’s a third ingredient to be added:
“Over the last fifty years, I think
there is a continuity in our faith of being what I call a religion
beyond belief…where what one believes is not central…it’s what one’s
passionate about and cares for… what one holds sacred, what one loves.
And the essence of being loving is to reach out.”
And to prove his
point, last Wednesday in Phoenix,
UUA President Morales,
president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), was convicted
of nonviolent civil disobedience in protest
against that state’s ruinous policies
towards Hispanics, and people of brown color.
So three things we’ve learned: We have a
powerful call for a faith that includes affirmation of God, but not the
untenable perceptions reflective of Judaism, Christianity and Islam;
secondly, we’re cautioned not to go back to the old humanist/theistic
battles that at one time characterized Unitarianism; third, we’re urged
to hold on to our beliefs what ever they are and to unite in compassion
and connection…to move, as it were, beyond belief.
So what
do those things mean to us…those beautiful statements from two ministers
and the UUA president? And what does a summer of exploring our UU
history, theology and practice tell us?
I want
to put one more bit of datum in the pot before we move on. It’s
different in that it comes from an outsider’s assessment, a non-UU. It’s
an
excerpt of a news report in one of the clergy publications I receive at
home, entitled Christian Century. That’s a bi-weekly established
in 1884, quite liberal, to which I always look forward to reading. And
in the July 26th edition, they had a followup report to our
General Assembly entitled, “Can creedless Unitarians make it another 50
years?” (As we learned more about this summer, the Unitarians and the
Universalists united into one denomination 50 years ago.)
Again, “Can
creedless Unitarians make it another 50 years?” Here’s the news report
of the Christian Century along with some of their analysis:
“The Unitarian
Universalist Association is a liberal religious movement with a proud
history of welcoming all seekers of truth – as long as truth is spelled
with a lowercase t. For 50 years the Boston-based UUA has
conducted a virtually unprecedented experiment: advancing a religion
without doctrine, hoping that welcoming communities and shared political
causes, not creeds, will draw people to their pews.
“Leaders say its
no-religious-questions-asked style positions the UUA to capitalize on
liberalizing trends in American religion. But as the UUA turns 50 this
year, some members argue that a midlife identity crisis <turning 50> is
hampering outreach and hindering growth. In trying to be all things to
every one, they say, the Association risks becoming nothing to anybody.
“But Peter
Morales, the UUA president, believes that we have ‘an amazing
opportunity. Millions of people are actively seeking a progressive,
nondogmatic spiritual community. Our challenge is to be the religious
community that embraces those people.’
“However, David
Bumbaugh, a professor of ministry at the UUA’s Meadville Lombard
Theological School in Chicago…says, ‘The UUA has always shied away from
God-talk for fear of offending members and shattering congregations.’ He
recently met with regional UUA conferences, encouraging them to wrestle
publicly with these foundational questions:
‘What do we
believe?
‘Whom do we
serve?
‘To whom or what
are we responsible?
“These,” he
states, “are the questions with which every viable religious movement
must necessarily wrestle.”
Starting with our services in September, we will not only be wrestling
with those issues, but also including components within the service that
address some of them. But for today, I want to offer a bit of imagery
that I think might help us. It’s a metaphor. That means it’s an
imaginative visual from another arena intended to help us better
understand a difficult issue.
The
metaphor I want to use is watering plants at Joyce Schaffer’s. As you
may know, Joyce and I live in her beautiful townhouse in the Landings.
Thanks to Joyce’s invitation, it’s now my home, too – not my house…but
our home.
In our
patio area, she has a lot of plants. More accurately, she has plants out
the gazoo. Which of course necessitates their being watered. Quite
naturally, there’s a faucet on one of the walls and a water hose.
Periodically, even though it was advertised differently, that watering
hose gets so knotted and kinked, twisted and turned, that it’s
impossible to coil it up neatly and put it on the hose hanger on the
wall correctly.
Periodically I take it off the hanger
and begin the process of straightening out the hose, taking the kinks
and knots out, and attempting to put it back right. What I would really
like is to be able to pull it out straight for as far as needed, and
twist and turn and massage until there are no kinks, knots or twists.
But because it’s a patio of a townhouse, that’s not an option. It’s had
so many knots and twists for so long that nothing seems to help, and I
have to go ahead and put it back on the hangar, regardless.
Now hold that metaphorical image for a
moment, and let me go far afield. Most of us subscribe to the theory
that the Universe came in to being, due to a “big bang,” when whatever
was, exploded in one indescribably humongous event, and the creation of
the Universe began.
As you know, scientists have made some
galloping conclusions about how that all happened. In fact, the words,
“big bang,” were initially one physicist’s derisive description of
another physicist’s theory about how what, happened in that
distant, for off time and place. He mockingly called it, the “big bang
theory.” It stuck, but not in the way he had planned.
What it says and what we know is that
there was “something.” Nothing ever comes out of nothing…there’s no such
thing as “creation out of nothing” – nihilo ex creatio. There was
something that initiated a process on a scale for which we can only use
linguistic approximations. In fact, it’s the closest theology and
science ever come to being alike. Words fail. “The Big Bang!” sounds
like comic book science instead of sophisticated astrophysics.
Anyway, those 15 or so billion years ago
when the Big Bang banged, that’s where we came from…the center of the
Cosmos…of which we are the offspring…fashioned from stardust and
sunlight…made from the miracle of evolution…tossed violently into the
abyss of darkness…into and out of enormous conflagrations beyond
knowing.
But on this precious planet, in this
incredible solar system, near the rim of the galaxy, faith communities
have thought outside the box. We’ve realized what an incredible gift
life is and that it should be lived to the fullest. But we need a little
help in doing that. Like the water hose, the living of life entails a
lot of kinks and knots, and we can’t seem to get it all straightened out
by ourselves. We need an 800 number…or is there a customer survey we
could fill in? How do we live life in 2011?
Let me first say that it’s not just by
being involved…by helping others. It’s also by tapping in to that
dimension of the Universe that created everything that is, which is
still within us.
How do we do that? Faith offers so many
resources, practices and alternatives. But sometimes the answer is do
nothing, say nothing, think nothing. Just breathe…in and out…in and out.
What the UU minister at the Southern Dharma Retreat Center we attended
this summer calls, “noble silence.”
It’s like straightening the water hose
at Joyce’s. You do a little bit at a time…twist here…turn there…and
eventually you can start to try to put it where it belongs. But you know
what? It won’t last. Somebody will put the hose back on without twisting
it right and soon it will be all screwed up again. That’s reality. Your
life and mine. And you learn that, and do the best you can…and breathe.
As in life, about the time we think we
have it all figured out, some greedy Wall Street types almost destroy
America’s as well as our global financial system. Suddenly, we are
dealing with the consequences of a house in foreclosure or underwater on
a loan. Or we had been feeling pretty good, taking our meds and eating
right, and then totally out of the blue, we’re flat on our backs, sick
as a dog. Who’s going to do this and who will do that while we get
better? Or we have one of those things common to us all…a birthday, for
crying out loud. How could it be happening to us…year after year after
year…and now look what it means for the future? Stop the world. I want
to get off!
But we can’t and we know we can’t. And
so those of us in the religious community seek a way to get our lives
straightened out. We want the kinks to be unkinked and the knots to be
unknotted. It’s as if we wanted a spiritual umbilical cord that will tie
us back to Central…the Source…to harmonize our inner and outer
geography….We want to find the key that unlocks the door to the meaning
of Ultimate Reality, so that we can work with words and shape and
fashion them so that we can speak in the light of faith and hope and
love.
CONCLUSION.
What I want to
suggest to you is that Unitarian Universalism is a language that we are
committed to learning. It’s the language of love. To speak Unitarian
Universalism is to speak love…to the oppressed, to the poor, to the
immigrant, to all those who need to hear an uplifting word of hope,
meaning and purpose.
To be Unitarian Universalist is to be
part of a larger community that stands on the side of love. That’s where
we’ve chosen to go as we end Unitarian Summer 2011.
Shalom. Salaam Aleikum.
Amen. Blessed be.
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